Reinforcing article

ABSTRACT

A reinforcing article (10, 100, 200) includes a porous substrate layer (105, 205) and a plurality of parallel first continuous fiber elements (12, 114, 212) spaced apart from each other and extending along a first direction and fixed to the porous substrate (105, 205). Each first continuous fiber element (12, 114, 212) includes a plurality of parallel and co-extending continuous fibers (22, 122, 222) embedded in a thermoplastic resin (24, 124, 224).

This application is the § 371 U.S. National Stage of InternationalApplication No. PCT/US2015/044789, filed Aug. 12, 2015, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/036,852, filed Aug. 13,2014, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein intheir entireties.

BACKGROUND

The physical properties of thermoplastic polymers can be improved by theincorporation of filler materials such as glass fibers. Theincorporation of glass fibers into polymeric products beneficiallyaffects resin properties such as tensile strength, stiffness,dimensional stability and resistance to creep and thermal expansion.Traditional methods of producing such articles have been injectionmolding or compression molding standard, pre-compounded fiberglass-filled polymer. While satisfying certain objectives in optimizingthe quality of the finished product, conventional filled products haveproven to be commercially costly and in other ways have fallen short oftheir objectives in terms of weight, impact performance and strength.Improvements to producing fiber-reinforced articles are desired.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a reinforcing article and methods ofmaking the same. The reinforcing article can improve the structureproperties while reducing the weight and/or cost of the compositestructural article.

In one aspect, a reinforcing article includes a porous substrate layerand a plurality of parallel first continuous fiber elements spaced apartfrom each other and extending along a first direction and fixed to theporous substrate. Each first continuous fiber element includes aplurality of parallel and co-extending continuous fibers embedded in athermoplastic resin.

In another aspect, a reinforcing article includes a plurality ofparallel first continuous fiber elements extending along a firstdirection, and a plurality of parallel second continuous fiber elementsextending along a second direction different than the first direction.Each first and second continuous fiber elements have a plurality ofparallel and co-extending continuous fibers embedded in a thermoplasticresin. The plurality of parallel first continuous fiber elements andplurality of parallel first continuous fiber elements are fixed to eachother and form an open lattice structure defining a plurality ofopenings.

In another aspect, a composite structural article includes a polymericbody having a first major surface and an opposing second major surfaceand reinforcing article as described herein embedded within and coplanarwith the first major surface or the opposing second major surface.

These and various other features and advantages will be apparent from areading of the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure may be more completely understood in consideration of thefollowing detailed description of various embodiments of the disclosurein connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view schematic diagram view of an illustrative openlattice reinforcing article;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section schematic diagram view of the open latticereinforcing article of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view schematic diagram view of another illustrativereinforcing article;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section schematic diagram view of the reinforcingarticle of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top view schematic diagram view of another illustrative openlattice reinforcing article;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section schematic diagram view of the open latticereinforcing article of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a container formed of compositestructural articles including reinforcing article described herein;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative process of forming theopen lattice reinforcing article described herein; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another illustrative process of formingthe reinforcing article described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown byway of illustration several specific embodiments. It is to be understoodthat other embodiments are contemplated and may be made withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the present disclosure. Thefollowing detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in alimiting sense.

All scientific and technical terms used herein have meanings commonlyused in the art unless otherwise specified. The definitions providedherein are to facilitate understanding of certain terms used frequentlyherein and are not meant to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing feature sizes,amounts, and physical properties used in the specification and claimsare to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term“about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numericalparameters set forth in the foregoing specification and attached claimsare approximations that can vary depending upon the properties sought tobe obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing the teachingsdisclosed herein.

The recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numberssubsumed within that range (e.g. 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3,3.80, 4, and 5) and any range within that range.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singularforms “a”, “an”, and “the” encompass embodiments having pluralreferents, unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term “or” isgenerally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the contentclearly dictates otherwise.

As used herein, “have”, “having”, “include”, “including”, “comprise”,“comprising” or the like are used in their open ended sense, andgenerally mean “including, but not limited to”. It will be understoodthat “consisting essentially of”, “consisting of”, and the like aresubsumed in “comprising,” and the like.

It should be noted that “top” and “bottom” (or other terms like “upper”and “lower” or “first” and “second”) are utilized strictly for relativedescriptions and do not imply any overall orientation of the article inwhich the described element is located.

The present disclosure relates to a reinforcing article and methods ofmaking the same. The reinforcing article described herein can improvethe structure properties while reducing the weight and/or cost of thecomposite structural article. The reinforcing article can include aplurality of parallel continuous fiber elements where each continuousfiber element includes a plurality of continuous fibers embedded in athermoplastic resin. The plurality of parallel continuous fiber elementscan be fixed to a porous substrate that allows molten polymer to flowthrough the reinforcing member and porous substrate. In some embodimentsthe reinforcing member includes a plurality of second parallelcontinuous fiber elements forming an open lattice structure. In some ofthese embodiments a porous substrate separates the first continuousfiber elements from the second continuous fiber elements. Thereinforcing article can be embedded within the polymeric body. The openlattice reinforcing article can be placed strategically within thepolymeric body to provide strength where it is needed within thepolymeric body. These composite structural articles possess a highstrength, stiffness, and high impact resistant with a reduced weight ascompared to conventional structural members. While the presentdisclosure is not so limited, an appreciation of various aspects of thedisclosure will be gained through a discussion of the examples providedbelow.

FIG. 1 is a top view schematic diagram view of an illustrative openlattice reinforcing article 10. FIG. 2 is a cross-section schematicdiagram view of the open lattice reinforcing article 10 of FIG. 1.

A reinforcing article 10 or open lattice reinforcing member 10 includesa plurality of parallel first continuous fiber elements 12 extendingalong a first direction, and a plurality of parallel second continuousfiber elements 14 extending along a second direction different than thefirst direction. Each first and second continuous fiber elements have aplurality of parallel and co-extending continuous fibers 22 embedded ina thermoplastic resin 24. The first plurality of parallel firstcontinuous fiber elements 12 and second plurality of parallel secondcontinuous fiber elements 14 are fixed to each other and form an openlattice structure defining a plurality of openings 16. Preferably theplurality of a parallel first continuous fiber elements 12 extendingalong a first direction, and a plurality of parallel second continuousfiber elements 14 extend along a second direction that is orthogonal tothe first direction. The plurality of first continuous fiber elements 12cooperate with the plurality of second continuous fiber elements 14 todefine the lattice openings 16 of at least 1 mm, or at least 2 mm, or atleast 5 mm or at least 10 mm in the open lattice structure 10.

The open lattice reinforcing member 10 can have any useful void sizeseparating the intersecting continuous fiber members 12, 14. Inpreferred embodiments the openings are in a range from about ⅛ inch toabout ½ inch square or in mesh size of about 8 to about 2 mesh or fromabout 4 to about 5 mesh (openings per inch). In many embodiments theopenings have an average lateral distance of at least 1 mm or at least 2mm or at least 5 mm. The opening allows molten polymer to flow throughthe open lattice reinforcing article 10 during a molding process.

The continuous fiber members 12, 14 can be formed of any suitable fibermaterial providing tensile strength and/or stiffness. A plurality ofcontinuous fibers 22 can extend along a longitudinal axis in a paralleland co-extensive manner as a continuous fiber element 12, 14 or bundleheld together with a thermoplastic resin 24. The continuous fibers 22can be composed of: glass, carbon, graphite, basalt, DuPont Kevlar brandaramid fibers, ceramics, natural fibers, polymeric fibers, and variousmetals preferably glass, carbon, graphite or Kevlar.

Each continuous fiber element 12, 14 or bundle can have a diameter orlargest lateral dimension in a range from 250 to 10000 micrometers orfrom 500 to 5000 micrometers or from 1000 to 3000 micrometers. Eachcontinuous fiber element 12, 14 or bundle can have at least 40% wt fiberor at least 50% wt fiber or from 40 to 90% wt fiber or from 50 to 80% wtfiber. Each continuous fiber element or bundle can have at from 60 to10% wt resin or from 50 to 20% wt resin.

The resin forming the continuous fiber members 12, 14 can be anysuitable polymeric material. In many embodiments the polymeric materialis a thermoplastic material. Useful polymeric material includespolypropylene, polyethylene, nylon, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene,styrene acrylonitrile, acrylic or styrene, for example. Further usefulpolymers include PBT polyester, PET polyester, polyoxymethylene,polycarbonite or polyphenylene sulfide for example. Higher temperaturepolymeric material includes polysulfone, polyethersulfone,polyethereetherketone, or liquid crystal polymer, for example.

In many embodiments the resin utilized to form the first plurality ofcontinuous fiber element or bundle 12 is compatible with, or is the sametype or kind of, resin material forming the second plurality ofcontinuous fiber element or bundle 14 or solid or polymeric body of thecomposite structural element (described below). This configurationallows the resin on each first plurality of continuous fiber element orbundle 12 to fuse or fix to the resin on each second plurality ofcontinuous fiber element or bundle 14.

The continuous fibers within the continuous fiber members 12, 14 canhave any suitable diameter such as 5 to 100 micrometers or less than 50micrometers or from 10 to 50 micrometers or from for example 10 to 30micrometers. The continuous fiber members 12, 14 or bundles are formedof a plurality of parallel and co-extending continuous fibers.Preferably the continuous fiber members 12, 14 or bundles are formed ofat least 100 or at least 1000 individual and parallel and co-extendingcontinuous fibers or at least 2500 individual and parallel andco-extending continuous fibers or at least 5000 individual and paralleland co-extending continuous fibers or at least 7500 individual andparallel and co-extending continuous fibers. The plurality of paralleland co-extending continuous fibers are disposed within a resin to formthe continuous fiber element or bundle, as described above.

The continuous fiber within the continuous fiber members 12, 14 can haveany suitable length and is typically at least extend the length of thecontinuous fiber members 12, 14. In many embodiments the continuousfiber within the continuous fiber members 12, 14 has a length of atleast 0.1 meter, or 0.5 meter or 1 meter or greater than 1 meter.

FIG. 3 is a top view schematic diagram view of another illustrativereinforcing member 100. FIG. 4 is a cross-section schematic diagram viewof the reinforcing member 100 of FIG. 3.

The reinforcing article 100 includes a porous substrate layer 105, and aplurality of parallel first continuous fiber elements 114 spaced apartfrom each other and extending along a first direction and fixed to theporous substrate 105. Each first continuous fiber element 114 includes aplurality of parallel and co-extending continuous fibers 122 embedded ina thermoplastic resin 124, as described above.

The porous substrate 105 allows molten polymer material to flow throughthe porous substrate. In many embodiments, the porous substrate is anopen lattice substrate (that may be a woven substrate) having latticeopenings of at least 0.5 mm or at least 1 mm and a substrate weight in arange from 30 grams/meter² to 800 grams/meter² or from 60 grams/meter²to 700 grams/meter². In other embodiments, the porous substrate is anon-woven substrate having a substrate weight in a range from 20grams/meter² to 150 grams/meter² or from 30 grams/meter² to 100grams/meter². The woven or nonwoven porous substrate can be composed of:glass, carbon, graphite, basalt, DuPont Kevlar brand aramid fibers,ceramics, natural fibers, polymeric fibers, or metal.

FIG. 5 is a top view schematic diagram view of another illustrative openlattice reinforcing member 200. FIG. 6 is a cross-section schematicdiagram view of the open lattice reinforcing member 200 of FIG. 5.

In these embodiments, the reinforcing article 200 is similar to thereinforcing article shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 and further includes aplurality of parallel second continuous fiber elements 212 spaced apartfrom each other and extending along a second direction different thanthe first direction. Each second continuous fiber element 212 includes aplurality of parallel and co-extending continuous fibers 222 embedded ina thermoplastic resin 224 (as described above), and the plurality ofparallel second continuous fiber elements 212 are fixed to the poroussubstrate layer 205 and the porous substrate layer 205 separates thefirst continuous fiber element 214 from the second continuous fiberelements 212.

Preferably the plurality of a parallel first continuous fiber elements212 extending along a first direction, and the plurality of parallelsecond continuous fiber elements 214 extend along a second directionthat is orthogonal to the first direction. The plurality of firstcontinuous fiber elements 212 cooperate with the plurality of secondcontinuous fiber elements 214 to define the lattice openings of at least1 mm, or at least 2 mm, or at least 5 mm or at least 10 mm in the openlattice structure 200.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a container 300 formed of reinforcingarticles 310 described herein. The container 300 is formed of at leastfour composite structural panels. Each composite structural panel orside of the container 300, includes the reinforcing article 310 embeddedin and coplanar with the major surface 332. In this embodiment, a firstmajor surface 332 is planar and an opposing second major surfaceincludes a plurality of intersecting rib elements 334 that extend awayfrom the second major surface. A first plurality of parallel ribelements extend along a length of the panel member and a secondplurality of parallel rib elements extend along a width of the panelmembers. The first plurality of rib elements intersect and areorthogonal to the second plurality of rib elements.

The solid or polymeric body can be formed of any suitable polymericmaterial. In many embodiments the polymeric material is a thermoplasticmaterial. Useful polymeric material includes polypropylene,polyethylene, nylon, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, styreneacrylonitrile, acrylic or styrene, for example. Further useful polymersinclude PBT polyester, PET polyester, polyoxymethylene, polycarbonite orpolyphenylene sulfide for example. Higher temperature polymeric materialincludes polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyethereetherketone, or liquidcrystal polymer, for example.

In many embodiments the resin utilized to form the continuous fiberelements 12, 14 is compatible with, or is the same type or kind of,resin material forming the solid or polymeric body of the compositestructural element. In some embodiments the embedding surface of thecontainer is a textured surface. The term “textured” refers to a surfacehaving uniform or non-uniform undulating surface or peaks and valleysalong the surface having a lateral height difference equal to at leastthe 50% of the diameter of the fiber bundle elements forming thereinforcing article 310.

The polymeric material can includes a plurality of random fibers forminga fiber dispersion in the polymeric material. This fiber dispersion hasan average fiber length of less than 15 mm or less than 12 mm or lessthan 5 mm or less than 1 mm. The fiber dispersion has an average fiberlength in a range from 1 to 15 mm or in a range from 5 to 12 mm and canbe termed “long fiber thermoplastic”. In other embodiments, the fiberdispersion has an average fiber length in a range from 0.1 to 1 mm or ina range from 0.25 to 0.75 mm and can be termed “short fiberthermoplastic”. The fibers forming this fiber dispersion can be formedof materials that are the same or different than the material formingthe continuous fiber members such as glass, carbon, basalt, graphite,DuPont Kevlar brand aramid fibers, ceramics, natural fibers, polymericfibers, and various metals, for example.

The fiber dispersion can be present in the polymeric material in a rangefrom 5 to 60% by weight. Preferably the fiber dispersion can be presentin the polymeric material in a range from 10 to 50% by weight, or in arange from 20 to 45% by weight, or in a range from 30 to 40% by weight.Useful polymeric material with fiber dispersions are commerciallyavailable from RTP Company, Winona, Minn. under the trade designations“RTP 107” (polypropylene with 40% wt short glass fiber dispersion) and“RTP 80107” (polypropylene with 40% wt long glass fiber dispersion), forexample.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative process 400 of formingthe open lattice reinforcing article 10 described herein. Fiber spools410 provide a bundle of continuous fiber to an extruder die 420. Theextruder die 420 embeds the bundle of continuous fiber within resinmaterial and forming first plurality of a parallel first continuousfiber elements 412 extending along a first direction. A second pluralityof a parallel second continuous fiber elements 414 extending along asecond direction different than the first direction and comprising aplurality of parallel and co-extending continuous fibers embedded in aresin are provided 430 and disposed on the first plurality of a parallelfirst continuous fiber elements 412. These continuous fiber members 412,414 can then go through a nip roller 440 to apply pressure to thecontinuous fiber members 412, 414. Then the continuous fiber members412, 414 can pass though puller element 450 then and diced 460 or cut toan appropriate size to form the open lattice reinforcing article 10described herein.

FIG. 9 is schematic diagram of another illustrative process 500 offorming the reinforcing member 100 described herein. Fiber spools 510provide a bundle of continuous fiber to an extruder die 520. Theextruder die 520 embeds the bundle of continuous fiber within resinmaterial and form a first plurality of a parallel first continuous fiberelements 114 extending along a first direction. A substrate 505(described above) is removed from a roll 510 and moved onto theplurality of continuous fiber members 114 (described herein). Thecontinuous fiber members 114 and porous substrate 505 can then gothrough a nip roller 540 to apply pressure to the continuous fibermembers 114 and fix them onto the porous substrate 505. Then thecontinuous fiber members 114 and porous substrate 505 can then be diced560 or cut to an appropriate size to form the reinforcing article 100described herein.

In some embodiments the plurality of parallel and co-extending secondcontinuous fibers are provided on opposing side of the porous substrate.This porous substrate (for example, a scrim layer) and second pluralityof parallel elements can be layered onto the first plurality of parallelfirst continuous fiber elements in any manner. For example the poroussubstrate can separate the plurality of parallel continuous fiberelements from the second plurality of parallel continuous fiberelements. In other embodiments the porous substrate can be fixed to orreleasably adhered to either the plurality of parallel continuous fiberelements or the second plurality of parallel continuous fiber elements.

The composite structural article can be formed by any suitable method.In many embodiments the reinforcing article can be placed in a suitablemold and the polymeric material disposed into the mold to form thecomposite structural article. Preferably the composite structuralarticles are formed by flowing molten polymer through the porousreinforcing article described herein by inserting the porous reinforcingarticle in a mold and polymer material is compression molded orinjection molded through the reinforcing article to form the compositestructural article.

The reinforcing article described herein can be utilized in structuralcomposite articles for a variety of industries, markets andapplications. The composite articles described herein are particularlyuseful for: automotive parts such as bumpers, fenders; transportationsuch as pallets and containers; aerospace such as airplane components;military such as missile components; recreation such as vehicle framecomponents.

Thus, embodiments of REINFORCING ARTICLE are disclosed.

All references and publications cited herein are expressly incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety into this disclosure, except tothe extent they may directly contradict this disclosure. Althoughspecific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it willbe appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety ofalternate and/or equivalent implementations can be substituted for thespecific embodiments shown and described without departing from thescope of the present disclosure. This application is intended to coverany adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments discussedherein. Therefore, it is intended that this disclosure be limited onlyby the claims and the equivalents thereof. The disclosed embodiments arepresented for purposes of illustration and not limitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A reinforcing article comprising: a poroussubstrate layer; and a plurality of parallel first continuous fiberelements spaced apart from each other and extending along a firstdirection and fixed to the porous substrate layer, each first continuousfiber element comprising a plurality of parallel and co-extendingcontinuous fibers embedded in a thermoplastic resin; a plurality ofparallel second continuous fiber elements spaced apart from each otherand extending along a second direction different than the firstdirection, each second continuous fiber element comprising a pluralityof parallel and co-extending continuous fibers embedded in athermoplastic resin, and the plurality of parallel second continuousfiber elements are fixed to the porous substrate layer; and the firstplurality of parallel first continuous fiber elements and the secondplurality of parallel first continuous fiber elements are fixed to eachother and form an open lattice structure defining a plurality ofopenings.
 2. The article according to claim 1, wherein the poroussubstrate layer is an open lattice substrate having lattice openings ofat least 1 mm and a substrate weight in a range from 60 grams/meter² to700 grams/meter².
 3. The article according to claim 1, wherein theporous substrate layer is a non-woven substrate having a substrateweight in a range from 30 grams/meter² to 100grams/meter².
 4. Thearticle according to claim 1, wherein the first continuous fiberelements each comprise at least 100 parallel and co-extending continuousfibers embedded within the thermoplastic resin and the second continuousfiber elements each comprise at least 100 parallel and co-extendingcontinuous fibers embedded with the thermoplastic resin.
 5. Thereinforcing article according to claim 1, wherein the first continuousfiber elements comprises 40-90% wt fiber and 60-10% resin and the secondcontinuous fiber elements comprises 40-90% wt fiber and 60-10% resin. 6.The reinforcing article according to claim 1 wherein the poroussubstrate layer separates the first continuous fiber elements from thesecond continuous fiber elements.
 7. The reinforcing article accordingto claim 1, wherein the first continuous fiber elements are orthogonalto the second continuous fiber elements.
 8. The reinforcing articleaccording to claim 1, wherein the first continuous fiber elements andthe second continuous fiber elements cooperate to define latticeopenings of at least 1 mm.
 9. A composite structural article comprising:a polymeric body having a first major surface and an opposing secondmajor surface; and a reinforcing article according to claim 1 embeddedwithin and coplanar with the first major surface or second majorsurface.
 10. The composite structural article according to claim 9,further comprising a plurality of fibers forming a fiber dispersionwithin the polymeric body, the fibers having an average length of lessthan 15 mm and an average diameter of less than 50 micrometers.
 11. Thecomposite structural article according to claim 10 wherein the fiberdispersion has an average length of less than 1 mm.
 12. The compositestructural article according to claim 11, wherein the polymeric bodycomprises 10% to 50% by weight fiber dispersion.
 13. The articleaccording to claim 2, wherein the porous substrate layer comprises glassfibers.
 14. The article according to claim 1, wherein the poroussubstrate layer is a non-woven substrate having a substrate weight in arange from 20 grams/meter² to 150 grams/meter².
 15. The articleaccording to claim 14, wherein the porous substrate layer has asubstrate weight in a range from 30 grams/meter² to 100 grams/meter².16. The article according to claim 15, wherein the porous substratelayer comprises glass fibers.
 17. The article according to claim 1,wherein the first continuous fiber elements each comprise at least 1000parallel and co-extending continuous fibers embedded within thethermoplastic resin and the second continuous fiber elements eachcomprise at least 1000 parallel and co-extending continuous fibersembedded with the thermoplastic resin.
 18. The reinforcing articleaccording to claim 17, wherein the first continuous fiber elementscomprises 50-80 wt fiber and 50-20% resin and the second continuousfiber elements comprises 50-80% wt fiber and 50-20% resin.
 19. Thereinforcing article according to claim 18, wherein the first continuousfiber elements comprise glass fibers and the second continuous fiberelements comprise glass fibers.
 20. The reinforcing article according toclaim 19, wherein the first continuous fiber elements parallel andco-extending continuous fibers have a diameter in a range from 10 to 50micrometers and the second continuous fiber elements parallel andco-extending continuous fibers have a diameter in a range from 10 to 50micrometers.